It circled the Earth in obscurity for more than half a year, now the X-37B OTV-5 space plane has been conclusively identified by amateur satellite observers in a circular orbit 356 Kilometers in altitude.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 blasted into partly cloudy skies over Cape Canaveral on Thursday, carrying into orbit the U.S. Air Force’s X-37B winged space plane on a mostly classified mission to test out new technologies in space and perform a range of experiments out of public view as part of the program’s fifth flight to space.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A at 14:00 UTC on September 7, 2017 – carrying into orbit the fifth mission of the U.S. Air Force X-37B space plane.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A at 14:00 UTC on September 7, 2017 – carrying into orbit the fifth mission of the U.S. Air Force X-37B space plane.

Keeping up the pace, SpaceX checked off the Static Fire Test for the company’s 13th launch of the year, aiming for a September 7 liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center with the U.S. Air Force X-37B space plane heading off on its fifth mission.